[Avodah] Need For Secular Knowledge

[D Rubin]

Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2018 12:23:28 -0400
From: Micha Berger <micha at aishdas.org>
> If you were arguing that we need to know what to pasqen about, not
> post-facto rationalizations that are in error but opinions of the metzi'us
> they are pasqening for... I agreed (and already posted) that a poseiq
> from LOR on up can't pasqen without knowing such things. But the hamon
> am?

What about the 'hamon am' (not sure why i don't like that term here -
patronising? unclear? unwarranted in this context?) having a deeper
understanding of what chazal meant? We can appreciate the meforshim,
and what they are teaching us, whilst simultaneously utilising our
understanding of the era's terms and sciences to better probe the
intentions of the original statements.

Dovid Rubin